Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flora
Plants, also called green plants (Viridiplantae in Latin), are living multicellular organisms of the kingdom Plantae.
Green plants have cell walls with cellulose and characteristically obtain most of their energy from sunlight via photosynthesis using chlorophyll contained in chloroplasts, which gives them their green color. Some plants are parasitic and have lost the ability to produce normal amounts of chlorophyll or to photosynthesize. Plants are also characterized by sexual reproduction, modular and indeterminate growth, and an alternation of generations, although asexual reproduction is common.
Precise numbers are difficult to determine, but as of 2010, there are thought to be 300–315 thousand species of plants, of which the great majority, some 260–290 thousand, are seed plants
Algae comprise several different groups of organisms which produce energy through photosynthesis and for that reason have been included in the plant kingdom in the past. Most conspicuous among the algae are the seaweeds, multicellular algae that may roughly resemble land plants, but are classified among the brown, red and green algae. Each of these algal groups also includes various microscopic and single-celled organisms.
The classification of fungi has been controversial until quite recently in the history of biology. the substructure of multicellular fungi is different from that of plants, taking the form of many chitinous microscopic strands called hyphae. Fruiting bodies, of which mushrooms are the most familiar example, are the reproductive structures of fungi, and are unlike any structures produced by plants.
FOOD -
Much of human nutrition depends on plants, either directly or indirectly.
Human nutrition depends to a large extent on cereals, especially maize (or corn), wheat and rice. Other staple crops include potato, cassava, and legumes. Human food also includes vegetables, spices, and certain fruits, nuts, herbs, and edible flowers.
Beverages produced from plants include coffee, tea, wine, beer and alcohol.
Human nutrition depends to a large extent on cereals, especially maize (or corn), wheat and rice. Other staple crops include potato, cassava, and legumes. Human food also includes vegetables, spices, and certain fruits, nuts, herbs, and edible flowers.
Beverages produced from plants include coffee, tea, wine, beer and alcohol.
NONFOOD USES -
Wood is used for buildings, furniture, paper, cardboard, musical instruments and sports equipment. Cloth is often made from cotton, flax, rame or synthetic fibers derived from cellulose, such as rayon and acetate. Renewable fuels from plants includefirewood, peat and many other biofuels. Coal and petroleum are fossil fuels derived from plants. Medicines derived from plants include aspirin, taxol, morphine, quinine, reserpine, colchicine, digitalis and vincristine.
AESTHETIC -
Thousands of plant species are cultivated for aesthetic purposes as well as to provide shade, modify temperatures, reduce wind, abate noise, provide privacy, and prevent soil erosion.
having gained a basic understanding of plants' roles in the environment and life i wanted to further research how plants actually help life and living.
Green plants absorb light energy using chlorophyll in their leaves. They use it to react carbon dioxide with water to make a sugar called glucose. The glucose is used in respiration, or converted into starch and stored. Oxygen is produced as a by-product.
Plants get hydrogen and oxygen from water in the soil, and carbon and oxygen from carbon dioxide and oxygen in the atmosphere. Water and carbon dioxide are used to synthesise food during photosynthesis. Oxygen is used to release energy from food during respiration.
According to National Geographic, half of the world's oxygen is produced from photosynthesis of oceanic phytoplankton, while the other half is produced from land plants.
The carbon-based glucose sugars that plants produce in photosynthesis are the origin of all food that animals depend upon in a complex ecosystem.
Photosynthesis withdraws carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which is otherwise a toxic greenhouse gas at too high levels. The Woods Hole Research
Center observes an increase of carbon into the earth's atmosphere in relation to land use---burning of fixed-carbon fossil fuels and carbon released from trees in deforestation.
http://www.ehow.com/facts_5769770_benefit-photosynthesis.html#ixzz2sGe6Zew5
Photosynthesis withdraws carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which is otherwise a toxic greenhouse gas at too high levels. The Woods Hole Research
Center observes an increase of carbon into the earth's atmosphere in relation to land use---burning of fixed-carbon fossil fuels and carbon released from trees in deforestation.http://www.ehow.com/facts_5769770_benefit-photosynthesis.html#ixzz2sGe6Zew5
while researching into the benefits of plants on humainty and our environment i came across a website which is dedicated to the research and promotion of plants within the working environment and how plants can be benefitial to peoples health and well being, in particular at work. although the credibility and reliability of some information and statistcs is questionable, the general information and aims of the site and project were reasonable and admirable and useful to my project.
Plants for People is an international initiative, spreading knowledge of the benefits of plants in a working environment. Plants for People initiates and supports international research projects, collects and publicises relevant study results and communicates these results at symposiums and workshops. Throughout the last ten years, the results of various studies have shown that plants can decompose large quantities of harmful substances, improve the indoor air by increasing the air humidity, reduce the quantity of dust and air-condition rooms - without any technical equipment. It is much more difficult to prove the psychological effect of indoor plants, although people spontaneously confirm: Plants in offices improve the subjective well-being and the attitude towards the place of work, they reduce the stress symptoms, increase productivity and there are less health problems. The introduction of plants in offices or at places of work does not only have an inward effect, it also demonstrates an ecological attitude.
Plants regulate the climate. They influence the humidity and improve the air quality, absorb carbon dioxide and other harmful substances and emit oxygen and they bind dust.
Additional biological air filtering by plants was experimentally proven to work in two ways:
a) The ribs of the leaves of the plants take up the harmful substances, collect, process and filter them. For example, this has been scientifically proven for formaldehyde. b) The harmful substances in the air get into the soil, i.e. a hydroponics substrate with a high content of activated carbon. The next step is that either the harmful air substances are directly absorbed by the roots of the plant and are then transported to, processed and respectively deposited, by the plant or, the processing by soil bacteria, for which the harmful substances serve as a source of nourishment.
The processing rates of plants only work out to approximately 1 percent of the processing rate of bacteria. As the detoxifying potential of plants is relatively low, rooms must be richly decorated with plants in order to be effective.
Did you know ….?
- Flowers make us smile
- More than that, flowers trigger happy emotions and have a long-term, positive
- effect on feelings of satisfaction, enjoyment and social behaviour
- Flowers & plants improve creativity
- Plants make us feel better
- Plants ensure we take less time off sick
- Plants clean the air we breathe
- We breathe in 15,000 litres of air per day
- Plants help us feel less stressed at work
- Plants make us more creative
obviously the above information is qualitiative information however there are extensive research projects that support some of the claims.
NASA scientists discovered that houseplants were able to purify polluted air and water. Since then many countries and authorities have developed their own research programmes.
Researchers are now also looking into the reasons why plants have all these positive effects on people. One theory is that during the last 2 million years people have evolved in open spaces, settling around clusters of vegetation. Therefore on a subconscious level plants may still signify water, food and protection and therefore, increased chances of survival.
“All plants remove toxins from the air, in fact it seems any plant will perform as well as others.” according to Professor Margaret Burchett from the University of Technology in Sydney Australia.
within the site was a study into the effects of plants on stress which had extesive and backed up research into how this occurs and what the measured benefits are. this was very useful in furthering my understanding of the relationship between humans and plants evolutionarily and past photosynthesis.
The number of scientific studies in this area is limited, but findings already suggest strongly that views of plants and other nature can reduce stress and in certain situations may have beneficial health-related influences.
(all coloured text from:) http://www.plants-for-people.org/eng/index.htm
Yes, plants do have a net release of carbon dioxide at night due to cellular respiration. Both animals and plants undergo cellular respiration constantly. However, in the light, plants produce much more oxygen via photosynthesis than than they consume in cellular respiration. Nonphotosynthetic plant parts, such as potato tubers and apple fruits, would give off carbon dioxide even in the light. You would need a very poorly ventilated room and a lot of plants in order to produce a toxic level of carbon dioxide at night.
http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/2001-04/987988349.Bt.r.html
having looked at a number of online sources and having gained a basic understanding of the living processes and cycles of plants and how they benefit humanity and our environment i then went to look at some books on the topic in the library.
having gained a more extensive understanding of how plants opoerate within the environment and what they do for the environment i decided to research into urban sustainability and what is out there research and product wise.
In ecology, sustainability is how biological systems endure and remain diverse and productive. Long-lived and healthy wetlands and forests are examples of sustainable biological systems. For humans, sustainability is the potential for long-term maintenance of well being, which has ecological, economic, political and cultural dimensions. Sustainability requires the reconciliation of these environmental, social equity and economic demands - also referred to as the "three pillars" of sustainability or the 3 Es.
According to data it presents to the United Nations, Cuba was the only nation in the world in 2006 that met the World Wide Fund for Nature's definition of sustainable development, with an ecological footprint of less than 1.8 hectares per capita, 1.5, and a Human Development Index of over 0.8, 0.855.[67][68]
Historically there has been a close correlation between economic growth and environmental degradation: as communities grow, so the environment declines. This trend is clearly demonstrated on graphs of human population numbers, economic growth, and environmental indicators.[132] Unsustainable economic growth has been starkly compared to the malignant growth of a cancer[133] because it eats away at the Earth's ecosystem services which are its life-support system. There is concern that, unless resource use is checked, modern global civilization will follow the path of ancient civilizations that collapsed through overexploitation of their resource base.[134][135] While conventional economics is concerned largely with economic growth and the efficient allocation of resources, ecological economics has the explicit goal of sustainable scale (rather than continual growth), fair distribution and efficient allocation, in that order.[136][137] The World Business Council for Sustainable Development states that "business cannot succeed in societies that fail"
Sustainability is based on a simple principle: Everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment. Sustainability creates and maintains the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations.
Sustainability is important to making sure that we have and will continue to have, the water, materials, and resources to protect human health and our environment.
a sustainable city should be able to feed itself with minimal reliance on the surrounding countryside, and power itself with renewable sources of energy. The crux of this is to create the smallest possible ecological footprint, and to produce the lowest quantity of pollution possible, to efficiently use land; compost used materials, recycle it or convert waste-to-energy, and thus the city's overall contribution to climate change will be minimal, if such practices are adhered to.
The purpose of an eco-industrial park is to connect a number of firms and organizations to work together to decrease their environmental impact while simultaneously improving their economic performance.
Urban farming is the process of growing and distributing food, as well as raising animals, in and around a city or in urban area. According to the RUAF Foundation, urban farming is different from rural agriculture because "it is integrated into the urban economic and ecological system: urban agriculture is embedded in -and interacting with- the urban ecosystem.
Many cities are currently in a shift from the suburban sprawl model of development to a return to urban dense living. Sustainable cities will opt for historical rehabilitation wherever possible. Having people live in higher densities not only gives economies of scale but also allows for infrastructure to be more efficient.
Walkable urbanism is a development strategy in opposition to suburban sprawl. New Urbanism is an urban design movement which promotes walkable neighborhoods containing a range of housing and job types. It arose in the United States in the early 1980s, and has gradually informed many aspects of real estate development, urban planning, and municipal land-use strategies. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Urbanism)
LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is an internationally recognized green building certification system. LEED recognizes whole building sustainable design by identifying key areas of excellence including: Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, Locations & Linkages, Awareness and Education, Innovation in Design, Regional Priority.
If we play our cards right, the 2050 city will:
• recognise its context, situated within a natural and agricultural ecosystem that provides its denizens' abundant raw materials, free crop pollination, and genetic diversity;
• be resilient, responding to long-term shifts through adaptive re-use and short-term shocks through high-tech smart devices and low-tech biomimetic designs;
• be water neutral, drawing from its aquifers only as much as it can recharge, and the rest from the sky or recyclers now part of basic plumbing;
• be inhabited by citizens who emit no more than one ton of greenhouse gases per person per year, due to their heavy reliance on efficient building design, decentralised generation, district energy systems, and multi-modal transit.
while researching sustainability within the urban environment i came across the concept of the ecocity and within this masdar city - a development project in abu-dhabi concerned with the making of a completely renenwable and non polluting carbon neutral city. this was a very interesting concept to me and to my project because it proves the potential of people to achieve urban sustainability, albeit with massive financial backing.
Masdar City (Arabic: مدينة مصدر, Madīnat Maṣdar, literally Source City[1]) is an arcology project in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. Its core is a planned city, which is being built by Masdar, a subsidiary of Mubadala Development Company, with the majority of seed capital provided by the government of Abu Dhabi.[2][3] Designed by the British architectural firm Foster and Partners and engineering and environmental consultancy Mott MacDonald, the city will rely entirely on solar energy and other renewable energy sources, with a zero waste ecology. It initially aimed to be a sustainable zero-carbon car-free city.[4][5] Masdar City is being constructed 17 kilometres (11 mi) east-south-east of the city ofAbu Dhabi, beside Abu Dhabi International Airport.
Masdar City will host the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).[6][7] The city is designed to be a hub for cleantech companies. Its first tenant is the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, which has been operating in the city since it moved into its campus in September 2010.[8][9][10] The city as a whole was originally intended to be completed by 2016 but due to the impact of the global financial crisis, the date has now been pushed back to between 2020 and 2025. Due to the limitations found during the initial implementation, the city is now aiming to be low carbon.[4][5]
this website provided info on the top ten sustainable cities of 2013 and for what reasons they gained such credit. this was useful in helping me to understand the differtent ways in which major cities can achieve sustainablity effectively and how these might be appropriate to other urban environments.
i also decided to get some books from the library to help me better understand the principles and theories behind sustainability and sustainable living and plants.
sustainability and environment presents an in depth and critical analysis of the various issues involved in sustainability and how the world needs to switch up if its to achieve any global progress.
"the latest available data reveals the overuse of the earths resources is much more extreme in rich countries. for example, if everyone in the world wanted to live like people in the UK, on a very conservative estimate, we would need more than three planets like earth"
"plants, animals, and other organisms maintain the life-sustaining systems of the earth."
"the food and agricultural organisations of the united nations estmiates that to meet the needs of the worlds population in 2020, food production will have to double."
dresners in depth look into the meanings of sustainability are interesting and relevant to the needs of the world to recognise its flaws. while presenting numerous credible arguments the book looked more at the economics and global politics of sustainability and lees so at the ecological aspect, which is relevant to my project.
while more of a visual form of research the book was very informative and gave me some good ideas in terms of the aesthetic progression of my project and helped me consider some relevant colour combinations and schemes.
jordan put me onto a behance project that looked at sustainable urban indoor farming caled 'window farms' which i though was a really interesting concept and so decided to look at it. the quality and execution of the project was near flawless and i thought the aim of the campaign was well justified and for a good cause.
having gained a better understanding of sustainability and how it is relevant to the urban environment and how it can be applied to an urban envionment i went on to research into exisiting govertnemtn campaings to gain an understanding of how governments communicate and prtesent information to a society or particular demographic. because my aim is to target uk residents i decided to limit my research to uk campaigns to gain a more focussed understanding.
THINK!
road safety campaign - http://think.direct.gov.uk/
this campaign targets drink driving and aims to warn drivers about the dangers and consequences of drink driving and dissuade them from doing so. a clever campaign that uses the visual splitting of the post arrest process depending on the sub topic to show people the imapct on their and others lives of drink driving. the communicative style and tone of voice is very serious and unforgiving which could be construed as overly preachy and macabre however, due to the nature of the topic i think it is appropriate because there is no room for leway or excuse.
a similar campaign as above but targeting mobile phone use while driving, this think campaign is very dark blunt. using a similar aesthetic of white text on black and photo imagery these posters use a play on words style communique of the indented message to not drive and use your phone. once again a very dark and unforgiving campaign that is purposefully in this tone of voice to make the audience understand the severity of the topic.
STRENGTH TO CHANGE
domestic violence campaign - http://www.wpp.com/corporateresponsibilityreports/2009/images/impact/strength/strength.png
this poster presents a similar 'dark' aesthetic as the above posters which sets the tone of voice relevantly. the low saturation links with the horror look which is also relevant to the campaign theme. simple strap lines and rehtorical questions seem to be the genral motive for campaign posters most likely because they are easily undewrstood, communicate the message and stick with you. block sans copy is hard hitting and formal enough to carry the serious tone of the message.
ACT FAST
stroke awareness campaign - http://campaigns.dh.gov.uk/category/act-fast/
this campaign is significantly more visual and really uses the depiction of a stroke victim to both illustrate the signs of a stroke and the seriousness of reaction to it. once again the use of yellow has been employed which signifies danger or importance in this context. the comic panel style spilt, although somewhat tacky, works with the fact concept because of the splitting.
CHANGE 4 LIFE
healthy living campaign - http://campaigns.dh.gov.uk/category/change-4-life/
eye catching and vibrant like the concept, the change for life brand and ad campaign appeals to the audience relatively well, i.e. the 'whole family'. the aestyhetic is however very garish and ott and i think its too much for what it is. its overly enthusiastic and childish and, while appealing to that audience is quite dated and doesnt realy take into account kids outlooks and understanding of the topic.
NHS SMOKEFREE
quit smoking campaign - http://www.nhs.uk/smokefree
i think the concept and delivery of this poster is really clever and well executed. its simple and visually explanitory, even without the text, which is very impacting and works well with such topics as addiction and health awareness.
the same goes for this one - visual impact is always more profound and seeing what is inside your arteries post smoking is always a turn off. it still doesnt beat the power of addiction though which could be an indication to the failure of specific direction the campaign has gone in.
most agricultural, nature, environmentally based logos mimic similar aesthietics. usually the use of a brown/green colour scheme in employed with soft and rounded fonts, often in lowercase.
the defra logo uses an impossible leaf emblem qwith a green gradient and soft fonts to present an aura of calm and care which is what theyre going for but is somewhat too cliche and transparent because a govenment department doesnt really work life thsat.
similarluy this logo is very minimal and inoffensive with few sharp edges and little more than the bare basics, which i think is a suitable aesthetic to go for because its about what they do and less how they look yet the logo is still quite cliche and samey.
the plantlife and nnss logos, while different, both present the same basic traits; white on a colour or image backgroung. simple font and not much else which is once again quite cliche of the style.
gotham is a font family often found used in american and some brittish govt. campaigns, usually election cam,paigns rather than awareness campaigns but its simple and legible.
generally sans serif block fonts are used for heading and body copy probably because these are the most readable and legible.
generally a combination of black and/or white with yellow or red is used. likely because these are most associated with seriousness and danger and things we should take heed of. these colours are too styrong and negative for my tone of voice and context.
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